4 candidates ran for 4 Orchard View school board seats, 3 won

MUSKEGON TOWNSHIP, MI - Four candidates were in the running for four seats on the Orchard View school board but only three won.

The board will appoint to fill the fourth seat.

Three candidates were on the ballot for two six-year terms, while two ran as write-ins for two partial terms ending in 2020. One person ran for both seats.

Unofficial results show that Leslie Jolman was one of two top vote-getters for the two six-year terms. But she also was one of the two write-in candidates for the two partial terms. If the results hold, and they should, Jolman will have her pick of which term to serve.

Regardless of which seat Jolman chooses, the board will appoint someone to fill the other seat that she won.

Jolman did not return calls for comment.

Orchard View voters chose newcomer Sharon Horsly, with 21.7 percent of the vote, and Jolman, with 19.2 percent, to serve the six-year terms. Incumbent Cynthia Bankhead, who has been on the board since 2016, received the fewest votes and was not re-elected.

The only way Bankhead can return to the board in January is if she is appointed by the board.

The second write-in candidate for the two partial terms ending in 2020 is incumbent Angela Brown. It can be presumed that Brown and Jolman won the seats since they would each need just one vote to win. Only pre-registered write-in candidates are eligible for election.

There were 76 write-in votes that are unresolved until counted by the Board of Canvassers. The board is expected to certify the election on Tuesday, Nov. 13.

Jolman was appointed to the board in March 2017 to fill a vacant seat with a term ending in 2020. She was required to run for election to retain the seat, but initially registered for the six-year term. She later registered as a write-in for the term to which she was appointed.